Ford to Jog Drowsy Drivers With Lane-Keeping Tech

If you're one of the 40% of Americans who say they've nodded off at the wheel, then Ford Motor Co. may have news that will jump-start your next moonlight drive.

The giant automaker is rolling out a lane-keeping technology that can recognize drowsy drivers and help them stay alert and in their lane. The announcement is significant, not only because drowsy driving is so common, but also because Ford is delivering the technology to mid-level vehicles, instead of just luxury-class cars. Ford said it will launch the technology in early 2012 on the Ford Explorer.

"This is a huge change," said Michael Kane, vehicle engineering supervisor for driver assistance technologies at Ford. "We're putting this technology on vehicles that the common person will be able to afford."

When the lane-keeping system detects the vehicle drifting close to lane markings, it notifies the driver through a vibration to the steering wheel or by providing steering torque to move the car back toward the center of the lane.
Image courtesy of Ford Motor Co.

The key to the new technology is a rearview mirror module that contains a pair of microcontrollers (MCUs) and a camera. The first of the two MCUs incorporates an image processor that handles data from the camera. The second runs software that examines the light and dark images and determines if the driver is inadvertently crossing over the lane lines.

"The camera is like an eye -- we can only react to what it can see," Kane told us. "But we worked with our suppliers to make sure that, even under different environmental conditions, we have the best opportunity to see the lines."

The software is robust enough to know if a driver is unintentionally leaving the driving lane, Kane said. It can recognize lane lines at night and on wet highways. It also watches to see if the driver is using the car's turn signals. If so, it suppresses any alerts.

"We have an amazingly complex algorithm," Kane said. "We don't want it to intrude on the driver's experience. We only warn them when we fully believe they need to be warned."

Hear, hear!! I had exactly the same thought reading the article. Here in Atlanta, despite a fairly strict "no cellphone or texting" law, based on my observations, at least 40% of all drivers I see are breaking those laws, plus another 15-20% distracted in some other way, brushing hair, shaving, reaching down to do whatever, etc. The only ones who do NOT cross over lane markings while doing so are stopped in traffic or at traffic signals! (the GA law doesn't even allow use of cell phones, etc. even then, but it's rarely enforced at all) The above applies on city streets and interstates alike. Maybe in this one case it MAY be possible for artificial intelligence to overcome natural stupidity!

@Susan: I'm sure you could steer the car yourself, but if the microcontroller is sending a faulty message to the electronic power steering assist because it thinks you're going out of your lane, you will presumably have to overcome whatever torque it is applying. Or it might apply the "rumble strip" vibration to the steering column while you are wide awake. I'm not sure how likely either of these two scenarios is, but they are nuisances I'd rather not have to worry about.

A pessimist would say that this is just one more system which could potentially manfunction, thereby prompting future editions of Sherlock Ohms or Made by Monkeys. I'm not sure I like the idea of a system which automatically applies a steering torque to my vehicle. It seems like a simpler solution would simply be to not drive while drunk, drowsy, or distracted.

You have to applaud Ford's efforts to make this kind of cutting-edge technology available in cars that the average consumer can afford. I'm assuming that the lane-keeping technology can be applicable not just to keep drowsy drivers more alert, but also to serve as a warning for the countless folks distracted by cell phones, texting, and eating during the course of their rides.

If you’re developing an embedded monitoring and control application, then you’ll want to take note of the upcoming Design News Continuing Education Center class, “Embedded Development Using Microchip Microcontrollers and the CCS C Compiler."

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